May presents diluted bills to take Britain out of EU

London, Wednesday

Prime Minister Theresa May, leading a “zombie” government after a disastrous election, has unveiled a diluted programme of action that included the mammoth legislation needed to take Britain out of the EU.

The state opening of parliament by Queen Elizabeth II came after a string of tragedies which have shaken the nation, and the election on June 8 in which May’s Conservatives saw their parliamentary majority wiped out.

The queen, at an occasion shorn of its usual pageantry, read out the watered-down list of proposed legislation and lawmakers will then spend the next few days debating before bringing it to a vote.

May could be forced to resign if she loses the vote, expected on June 29, just as the country embarks on highly sensitive negotiations for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union.

After four terror attacks and a deadly tower block blaze that have darkened the national mood, anti-government protesters are also planning a “Day of Rage” in the streets that will converge outside parliament with temperatures forecast to hit 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit)—London’s hottest June day since 1976.

The enfeebled premier, who is still locked in difficult talks with a Northern Irish party to prop up her administration, says the programme is about seizing opportunities offered by Brexit.

“My government’s priority is to secure the best possible deal as the country leaves the European Union,” the queen said. She said her government would seek “to build the widest possible consensus on the country’s future outside the European Union”, amid divisions within May’s own cabinet over the best strategy.

The speech announced no fewer than eight bills to implement Brexit, and new legislation aimed at tackling extremist content online after the terror attacks. But the speech was notable also for what it did not contain. There was no mention of May’s hugely controversial invitation to US President Donald Trump to come on a state visit. -AFP

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